FIR filed against Punjab ex-minister Bhullar after govt official commits suicide

Chandigarh: Punjab Police on Sunday registered a case against former Transport Minister Laljit Bhullar hours after Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, the District Manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, ended his life.

Randhawa had accused the minister of harassment and coercion. He had reportedly consumed Celphos at his residence in Amritsar on Saturday. Before dying, Randhawa recorded a 12-second video on his mobile phone, saying, “Kha layi Celphos thuade yaar ne minister Laljit Bhullar de dar ton, hun ni bachda (Your friend has consumed poison due to fear of minister Laljit Bhullar; I won’t survive now).”

Randhawa is survived by his wife, a government school teacher, and three children.

Besides former Minister Bhullar, his father Sukhdev Bhullar and personal assistant Dilbagh Singh have also been booked under Sections 108 (abetment to suicide), 351 (criminal intimidation) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

In her complaint, the deceased’s wife, Upinder Kaur, alleged that the former minister, his father and his PA allegedly assaulted her husband and held them liable for abetment in suicide.

BJP chief Sunil Jakhar and senior party leaders will on Sunday ‘gherao’ Chief Minister Bagwant Mann’s residence in Chandigarh to demand the arrest of the former minister. On Saturday night, Jakhar met the wife of the late Randhawa in Amritsar and expressed condolences and assured all possible support to ensure justice for the family.

Jakhar said Chief Minister Mann no longer has any moral basis to remain in power. He noted that earlier, people in Punjab were losing their lives due to their inability to pay extortion and were facing gangster rule, but now even government officials are being forced to take their own lives due to their inability to meet the alleged demands of Ministers.

State BJP Chief Jakhar said this incident “is equivalent to the broad daylight murder of a government officer and that a case should be registered immediately against Minister Bhullar and he should be arrested”.

Jakhar also expressed surprise over the Chief Minister’s statement that the probe would be handed over to the State Chief Secretary K.A.P. Sinha, questioning when the Chief Secretary has been investigating “murder cases”.

The Chief Secretary was asked to look into the allegations of harassment and tender dispute involving Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Bhullar, who represents the Patti Assembly constituency.

The State BJP Chief said that this incident exposed the reality of the state government’s claim of “staunch honesty”. He remarked that this is not a state Cabinet but a “gang of Ministers”.

Jakhar said that first Minister Vijay Singla, then Fauja Singh Sarari, and now Laljit Singh Bhullar all reflect the true face of this AAP-led Punjab government. He also added that Chief Minister Mann has now become a burden on his position.

IANS